Metals

The fortunes of metals producers through the first half of 2008, from steel to copper, depended in great part on the impact of rising commodity prices. Producers walked a thin line between welcoming price inflation, since it boosted their own bottom lines, and fearing it, since inflation meant increased energy-related costs and, ultimately, lessened demand.

Steelmakers, for example, saw general improvements in their balance sheets over the summer as months of steel-price increases helped reduce the pain of increasing raw material and energy costs. (Global prices rose 40% to 50% between December 2007 and May 2008.) U.S. Steel posted second-quarter net income of $668 million, a more than 100% increase year on year. Luxembourg’s ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker in terms of production, earned a record $13.09 billion in the first half of 2008 and was on pace to match that amount in the second half. As the year waned, however, there were signs of flattening demand.

There was also growing tension between miners and producers. Australian top mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton pushed for massive increases in their benchmark prices. In early summer, for example, they demanded and received an 85% increase for iron ore in negotiations with China’s biggest steelmakers. As demand decreased in the summer and fall, however, China’s steel mills began postponing iron-ore deliveries, and analysts predicted that the slowdown could reduce sales by 10% by year’s end. BHP spent much of the year attempting to carry out a $130 billion hostile takeover of Rio Tinto.

Other metal sectors also faced dwindling demand. Copper hit a three-year low of $2 per pound in October after Chinese demand waned. The price further fell to below $1.30 per pound in mid-December. From July to September aluminum prices fell more than 20% to $2,500 per metric ton, while producer inventories increased by 40%. By the end of the year, prices dropped to less than $1,500 per metric ton. China, which experienced electric-power shortages, was forced to cut aluminum output by 10%. Even Russia’s RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminum producer, considered shuttering some of its high-cost smelters. The largest American producer, Alcoa, was slammed by increased costs of production and raw materials and declining demand from automakers and other manufacturers. In the third quarter Alcoa posted a 52% profit decline and said that it would reduce capacity and halt all nonessential capital projects.

Even gold, once considered a safe haven in times of economic volatility, was unpredictable. By March gold futures contracts had reached $1,000 per troy ounce. In the summer, however, with demand collapsing (jeweler demand for gold fell 24% in the second quarter alone), gold prices began to deflate, and by August gold futures had given up all of the year’s accumulated gains. Even more frustrating to gold investors, the commodity’s price was wildly volatile in the third and fourth quarters, bouncing up to $986 per troy ounce and down to $700.

Chemicals

The leaders of the global chemicals industry in 2008 largely managed to keep a steady pace as the economic turmoil began, thanks to a combination of price hikes and increased diversification. Dow Chemical posted a 6.2% gain in third-quarter net income, since it was able to use two major across-the-board price hikes in the summer to offset increased energy costs, which rose by 48% during the third quarter alone. Dow hoped that its acquisition of specialty-chemicals maker Rohm and Haas would help widen its profit margins. In December, however, Dow said that it would be reducing its workforce by about 11%, or 5,000 jobs. DuPont was also managing to keep afloat despite the slump in automobiles and housing, and it posted an 18% increase in first-half earnings. The company had sought product diversification with moves into areas such as biofuels, but it also reduced its workforce late in the year, cutting 2,500 jobs.

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